This year’s Electricity Transformation Canada (ETC) show will feature an educational presentation on one of solar’s hot-button issues in 2026: solar economics.

Taking place Oct. 19-21 in Toronto, Canada’s largest renewable energy trade show has become a hub for education and innovation in the Great White North. This year, two of racking company S-5!’s top experts will deliver a seminar on the economics of direct-attach solar mounting, and its effects on today’s constantly changing market.

Hosted by Mark Gies, director of product management and strategy for solar applications and Brandon Kilpatrick, Canadian national director of sales at S-5!, the session will explore one aspect of the solar industry’s rising costs. The seminar will explore just how those spiking costs are changing project decisions big and small, as well as how direct-attach mounting on metal roofs is gaining attention in the space.

“Rising costs for modules, steel, labor, freight and logistics are reshaping solar project economics, prompting developers and contractors to look for new ways to reduce installed costs without compromising long-term performance,” ETC representatives say. “As metal roofing becomes an increasingly common platform for commercial and industrial solar projects in Canada, mounting system design is playing a larger role in project cost, constructability and lifecycle value.”

Practical applications for Canada

Metal roofing options are getting renewed attention in the North American market, according to S-5!’s session briefing. The practice has become an easy way to reduce installation costs, without sacrificing long-term performance of either the roof or the solar mounting.

Seminar attendees will learn practical application tools during the session, S-5! says, including how direct-attach solar mounting eliminates rails, reduces total component count, and simplifies on-site installation and logistics. All of this, the Colorado Springs-based firm says, is in service of lowering total costs.

“With fewer parts to ship, stage and assemble, these systems can help lower system costs while improving efficiency in the field,” the company adds. “The session will also look beyond initial costs to the long-term value of treating the metal roof and solar array as a single integrated asset, including how mounting decisions can affect constructability, service life, lifecycle value and the economics of future reroofing or system replacement.”

S-5!’s presentation will take place Oct. 20 at 4 p.m., company officials say. Prospective attendees will receive continuing education credits, and the company urges all ETC attendees to visit its booth at #419 to learn more about its PVKIT brand of rail-less solar mounting systems.

Tags: education, Electricity Transformation Canada (ETC), metal roof, mounting, rooftop solar, S-5!